Ruchi Sardana - Meet the SHEROES
Ruchi Sardana had been a homemaker for more than 10 years when she decided to take a plunge into entrepreneurship. Last week she inaugurated her own franchisee of a Naturals Salon in Noida. Find out what motivated her to start-up after the long break-
Tell us more about yourself
I did my BA and Masters in Arts (Maths) from Delhi University. Got married in 2000, since then I had been a homemaker. In 2007, to keep myself busy I became an Insurance Adviser with ING Vysa Life Insurance Company. In 2013 my Husband decided to take a sabbatical from active employment and we decided to set up our own business, where I could play a more meaningful and active role. My husband wishes to pursue his career ambitions once the business takes on.
What motivated you to start the salon?
We looked at various business models from restaurants to retail and salon. But we choose this business due to factors such as rise in disposable incomes and customer’s willingness to spend money on personal grooming. These days people do like to keep themselves fit and look good.
On flip side, we felt that these days job insecurity is also a factor and thought if we owned a business, it would help us in planning our finances for our children’s higher education, marriage and our golden years.
What is work-life balance mantra for you?
At the moment, since the business is very new, the work-life balance is more towards work, but surely in few months time, I plan to reverse this. The beauty about taking a franchisee is that you get a lot of company support in terms of handling operations, marketing and other related fields and with structured/established work practices one can manage business from home or spending few hours at work. At no point, I want my kids/family to suffer the quality time that they deserve from me.
A message you would like to give SHEROES out there.
“In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take”
That’s the message I would like to give to SHEROES. You get one life to live and you need to follow your dreams. Be Positive. Believe everything is possible. And lastly, care for your customers and employees. Business will happen.
About Naturals
Naturals is a salon chain and with its 300 plus branches spread across India. Many of these salons are run by women entrepreneurs, naturals fuels the ambitions of women and help them achieve their dreams. Naturals is specially keen on promoting women entrepreneurs. Once you sign up as a franchisee, you will get the appropriate training and support, even if this is the first time you are ever venturing into business. You will also get support in raising capital. To know more Naturals Franchise, go here.
